Ravine, Recess, Rift, Shaft, Slade: Origins, Forms, Histories of Words Meaning Valley, Cave

The natural features of a region are its topography (Greek topos, "place").

Valleys, caves, related natural features, and human-made structures having similar topographic effects are known by many different words in English. In the current alphabetic series of such terms, the next examples are ravine, recess, rift, shaft, and slade.

Ravine
Ravine entered English in the 18th century from French ravine, from Middle French ravine ("rapine, rush, rush of water," hence "ravine"), from Latin rapina ("rapine, pillage, plunder"), from the verb rapere ("to seize, ravish").

A narrow, steep-sided valley, usually worn by running water, is a ravine (1760). A ravine is generally regarded as a medium-sized natural feature: larger than a gully, smaller than a canyon, and similar to a gorge and a gulch. In its early history in English, the word was often spelled ravin, but by the early 1800s the form ravine was established.

Recess
Recess entered English in the 16th century from Latin recessus, from the verb recedere ("to recede").

The original, now obsolete, meaning of recess is the act of withdrawing or departing (1531). Another early sense, still current, is the act of receding (1607).

A receding part-that is, a cleft or an indentation-of a natural feature, such as a coastline or a hill, is a recess (1697).

Rift, Rift Valley
Rift comes from Middle English rift (14th century). The word is probably of Scandinavian origin, akin to Danish and Norwegian rift ("fissure") and Old Norse rifa ("to rive, split, fracture").

A cleft, fissure, or chasm in the crust of the earth is a rift (14th century).

An elongated valley formed by a depression in the earth's crust between two faults or groups of faults is a rift valley (1894).

Shaft
Modern English shaft comes from Middle English shaft (14th century), from Old English sceaft (before 12th century). The word is akin to Old High German scaft ("shaft"), Latin scapus ("shaft"), and Greek skeptesthai ("to prop oneself, lean").

The original meaning of shaft is a long handle, such as one on a spear (c. 1000).

A vertical or inclined opening in the ground for mining ore, raising water, or ventilating a mine or a cave is a shaft (1433).

Slade
Modern English slade comes from Middle English slade (14th century), from Old English slaed (before 12th century).

Since at least the 9th century, the word slade has denoted a little valley as well as various other topographic features, such as a clearing surrounded by woods, a wooded or open area lying between wooded slopes, and a hillside. The word is now dialectal in England, and the application of the word varies by locality.
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Encyclopaedia Britannica Ready Reference 2004. CD-ROM. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2004.

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. 11th ed. Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 2006.

Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary. 3rd ed. Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 2007.

The Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press, 1989.